System and method for generating domain names and for facilitating registration and transfer of the same

ABSTRACT

New and improved systems and methods for generating and facilitating registration and transfer of available domain names. The systems and methods include and involve a data storage facility for storing at least one adjunct term for use in generating at least one registerable domain name, and a processor arrangement which is coupled to the data storage facility and which is configured to be accessed by a user system via an electronic data network, to receive at least one root term from the user system, to concatenate at least one root term with at least one adjunct term to generate at least one candidate domain name, to query a data source to determine if the candidate domain name(s) is available for registration and/or transfer, and to notify the user system of the candidate domain name(s) when the same are available for registration and/or transfer.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

The present application is a continuation application of applicationSer. No. 09/400,602 filed Sep. 22, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,341,issued Oct. 2, 2001, by the U.S. Patent and Tradmark Office.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to systems and methods used to facilitateregistration and transfer of domain names and uniform resource locators(URLs) such as those used to access content via the Internet and worldwide web (WWW).

2. Description of the Related Art

Registration, transfer, and use of domain names and uniform resourcelocators (URL) such as those utilized to access content via electronicdata network such as the Internet and WWW are well known. Network usersutilize domain names (e.g., “microsoft.com,” etc.) in place of numericsequences (i.e., Internet Protocol (IP) addresses such as 255.12.10.112,for example) which are difficult to remember and use. Typically, domainnames consist of a root name or cipher followed by a period (pronounced“dot”) which is then followed by what has been referred to as a “toplevel domain” indicator (e.g., “.com”, “org”, “.gov”, “.net”, “.cc”, andother domains such as country codes, etc.). Top level domain indicatorsare used to logically separate or distinguish content sources (e.g.,commercial “.com” sources versus governmental “.gov” sources). Manydomain names have been registered and transferred which correspond tofamous trademarks such as “ge.com” so that consumers can access onlinecontent about products and services from well known providers (e.g.,General Electric, etc.).

Domain names function as a result of their uniqueness relative tonumeric network addresses. That is, a particular domain name mustcorrespond to a single content source, thus necessitating theregistration of many different domain names. As such, domain names havebeen registered (and transferred) at an astounding rate. In fact,Network Solutions, Inc. reports that over five (5) million WWW addresseshave been registered in the last five years.

Prior to use, a proposed domain name must be registered (or otherwiseobtained) with a domain name registrar such as Network Solutions, Inc.(www.networksolutions.com). Once registered, a domain name may be usedto point to a particular content source (e.g., a WWW page, etc.)residing on a designated server system (e.g., a WWW server). Typically,the mapping of a domain name (e.g., “ge.com,” etc.) is carried out by adomain name server system such as a public Internet domain name serversystem (DNS system) maintained by Network Solutions, Inc. and theregistration database authority known as InterNIC (www.InterNIC.net).

Registration usually involves some sort of manual input of a root name(i.e., the character string prior to the period) and the selection of atop level domain name. See, for example, the www.networksolutions.comhomepage. Upon executing a script, a registration service typicallychecks one or more databases to determine if a domain name is availablefor registration. If registration is available, a service will permit auser to complete an online form to perfect registration. If registrationis not available, a service may suggest alternate domain names whichinclude the same root term (i.e., the term before the period)concatenated with an alternate top level domain name. Unfortunately,domain name registration services do not function to suggest alternatedomain names which may include terms not originally selected by anetwork user or content provider. As a result, a network user is oftenleft to laboriously, exhaustively, and manually enter many potentialdomain names which ultimately may not be available for registration.

As such, many domain names have been registered by sellers and brokersas assets which may be sold for more than typical registration fees. Infact, the domain name sale and brokerage industry has become asignificant source of Internet related commerce. Many providers havepaid large sums of money to transfer, acquire and use domain names topoint to their content sources. One such seller of domain names iswww.raredomains.com which specializes in the sale of unique and valuabledomain names. Despite the development of the domain name sale andbrokerage industry, content providers are still left to eitherlaboriously try to select an available domain name or select an alreadyregistered domain name from a broker that may not be best suited for aparticular content delivery service, etc.

As such, there exists no convenient and efficient way for contentproviders to select, buy, and/or register domain names that best suittheir particular purposes. Thus, there exists a need to provide new andimproved systems and processes to automate domain name selection andregistration and/or transfer processes. To be viable, such new andimproved systems and methods must permit network users and contentproviders to enter suggested terms which may form the basis of potentialdomain names beyond mere top level domain alternatives which are in factavailable for registration, transfer and use.

The present invention addresses the aforementioned problems and needssquarely and provides new and improved systems and methods as describedbelow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the aforementioned problems and providesnew and improved systems and methods that facilitate generation,registration, and/or transfer of available domain names.

To achieve the benefits provided by the present invention as describedin detail below, defined are new and improved systems and methods forgenerating and facilitating registration of available domain names. Thesystems and methods include and involve a data storage facility forstoring at least one adjunct term for use in generating at least oneregisterable and/or transferable domain name, and a processorarrangement which is coupled to the data storage facility and which isconfigured to be accessed by a user system via an electronic datanetwork, to receive at least one root term from the user system, toconcatenate at least one root term with at least one adjunct term togenerate at least one candidate domain name, to query a data source todetermine if the candidate domain name(s) is available for registrationand/or transfer, and to notify the user system of the candidate domainname(s) when the same are available for registration and/or transfer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURES

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to theattached drawing figures, of which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system in which domain names and, inparticular, those involving the concatenation of user-specified rootterms with pre-defined adjunct terms are automatically generated and,possibly, registered and/or transferred according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the registration server system (e.g., theautomatic data processing configured as a programmed WWW server system)shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is flowchart that illustrates the processes which are carriedout in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present inventionto automatically generate, register and/or transfer available domainnames in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3B is a continuation flowchart of the flowchart started in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is a continuation flowchart of the flowchart started in FIGS. 3Aand 3B.

FIG. 3D is the conclusion of the flowchart started in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and3C;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart that illustrates the processes which are carriedout in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present inventionto facilitate receipt of at least one available domain name generated inaccordance with the present invention, and registration/transfer of thesame;

FIG. 5A is a screen shot of an exemplary WWW site that permitsgeneration and registration/transfer of available domain names inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a screen shot of a daughter page accessed via the WWW shownin FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5C is an exemplary electronic mail message that was sent via theInternet to notify a user of at least one available domain name that wasgenerated in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 5D is a screen shot of a WWW site that contains a list of availabledomain names generated in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is now discussed in detail with regard to theattached drawing figures which were briefly described above. Unlessotherwise indicated, like parts and processes are referred to with likereference numerals.

Referring to FIG. 1, depicted therein is a system in which users mayaccess a domain name service and system and receive lists of availablecandidate domain names based upon user-specified criteria (root terms)in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Inparticular, system 100 includes a user system 102 (e.g., a personalcomputing system or environment capable of engaging in WWW relatedcommunications via an electronic data network, etc.), an InternetService Provider (ISP) 104, the Internet and world wide web (WWW) 106, adomain name service and system 108, and data store 110 for storingadjunct terms and, possibly, available domain name lists, InterNICand/or other remote database systems 114 such as Internet root zonefiles and other databases containing domain name information.

Domain name service and systems 108 preferably is configured as a webserver system that is capable of serving web content in the form of webpages to users such as a user who operates user system 102.

Referring now to FIG. 2, depicted therein is a block diagram of domainname service and system 108. In particular, domain name service andsystem 108 includes a processor arrangement 202, data storage subsystem110 (as shown in FIG. 1) and I/O facilities 204. Data storage subsystem110 may be logically or physically separated from domain name serviceand system 108 as shown in FIG., 1. Domain name service and system 108is configured as a web server system that serves content in the form ofweb pages to a user system such as user system 102 (FIG. 1).Additionally, domain registration service and system 108 may transmitdata to and receive data from remote data sources such as InterNICdatabase root zone files 112 and/or other remote database services andsources 114. The structure and arrangement of domain registrationservice and system 108 will be immediately understood to those skilledin the art of modern networking technologies.

The structural aspects of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 1 and2 are designed to operate together to facilitate generation,registration, and/or transfer of available domain names in accordancewith user-specified criteria such as user-specified root terms or nameswhich are automatically concatenated with pre-defined (adjunct) terms inaccordance with the present invention. The processes to carryout suchfunctionality are illustrated in a flowchart found in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C,and 3D, to which reference is now made.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, depicted therein is the start of a flowchartthat illustrates the operations and processes that are carried outwithin the context of the present invention to permit a user to receivean automatically generated list of available domain names based onuser-specified criteria. In particular, processing starts as step S3-1and immediately proceeds to step S3-2.

At step S3-2, a user accesses a domain name generation, registration,and transfer web site via the internet (e.g., via a WWW browserapplication, etc.).

Next, at step S3-3, the user completes an online form requesting one ormore root terms for available domain names. Such root terms will be usedby the domain name registration/transfer web site to generate domainnames and to check their availability against lists and databases ofalready registered domain names. Such root terms are words specified bya user and will ultimately form part of one or more domain names—e.g.,if the root term is “tax,” generated domain names may be“moneytax.com/.net,” “taxmoney.com,” “ustax.com,” “taxtime.net,” etc.

The use of the term “root” is merely meant to describe user specifiedterms and has no other meaning. That is, the present invention may beconfigured to accept a user's terms as terms to be concatenated in anyway to pre-determined terms (e.g., adjunct terms) found in a databaseand, for example, as leading and trailing terms. Accordingly, any use ofthe term “root” to describe user-specified term(s) is not intended tolimit the present invention in any way.

Next, at step S3-4, the user specifies an e-mail address for queryresults to be sent to. That is, lists of available domain names andother correspondence from domain name generation and registration may besent in accordance with the present invention via electronic mail, webdelivery, etc. There is no requirement that e-mail be used as the solesource of results-oriented notification.

Next, at step S3-5, the user's root term(s) are concatenated withadjunct terms specified in an adjunct data base (prefixes, suffixes,etc.) to provide a list of candidate domain names. It is important tonote that the concatenation of a user's root term to terms maintainedwithin an adjunct term data base, in accordance with the presentinvention, may be carried out in accordance with many differentconcatenation rules. For example, simple string concatenation may beperformed, as well as search based concatenation such as thesaurus basedconcatenation of root terms to other terms having similar meanings andthe like. Accordingly, the present invention facilitates the generationof available registerable/transferable names not by simply concatenatingterms entered by a user, but by concatenating a user's terms with otherterms pre-stored within other data bases such as thesauruses, tables,and any other data structure containing additional terms for use inconcatenation. And such concatenation may involve characters such ashyphens, and any other domain permitted strings and characters. Theprogramming necessary to accomplish string concatenation, databaselookups, etc. will be readily understood by those skilled in the art;for example, PERL (e.g., V 5.003, etc.) scripts may be used to producestring concatenations as well as to perform database dips, etc.

It is important to note that the adjunct terms may be stored locally byfacility 108 (FIG. 1) or remotely in any form of data structure and/orsystem that supports messaging to drive database queries and the like.

Next, a looping structure is started based upon the number of termsspecified in an adjunct term data base, or the number of concatenatedcandidate domain names. In particular, at step S3-6, each candidatedomain name on a generated list is compared against internal domain namelist. For example, if ten relevant adjunct terms are specified in atable driven database, ten or some other number of concatenations mayhave taken place so that the list of candidate domain names contains tenor some other number of entries.

Next, at step S3-7, a comparison is made to determine whether or not amatch for the particular candidate domain name currently being loopedupon matches any name on an internal list (e.g., database table storedin memory, disk, etc.). If not, processing proceeds to step S3-9.Otherwise processing proceeds to step S3-8 where the current candidatedomain name is determined to be not available for registration andprocessing will loop back to step S3-6.

At step S3-9, a domain name system (DNS) lookup will be done todetermine if the candidate domain currently being looped upon alreadyexist in a root zone file such as one maintained by InterNIC root zonefiles 112 (FIG. 1).

Next, at step S3-10, a match determination is carried out to determineif the DNS lookup produced a match between the current candidate domainname and other domain names already in use. If such a match does notexist, processing will proceed at the top of FIG. 3C and in particularat step S3-11 thereof.

If a match does occur, processing will loop back to step S3-8 asdiscussed above and ultimately back to step S3-6 for evaluation of thenext candidate domain name built as a result of concatenation asdiscussed above.

It should be noted that the present invention permits and certainlycontemplates inclusion of brokerage type services in the search processassociated with producing a list of available domain names. That is, thepresent invention contemplates querying databases of names which matchgenerated concatenations and which may already be registered but whichare currently For-Sale-By-Owner by a domain name sales (e.g., brokerage)facility. Accordingly, the present invention and, in particular, any website that incorporates the same may be linked to other brokerage typeweb sites (sites selling already registered domain names) to allowappropriate database (domain name) list queries to take place. Suchbrokerage type queries may be carried out during any part of the processin which registerability and/or transferability is being determined inaccordance with the present invention. The database queries and dipsnecessary to perform such brokerage type queries will be immediatelyunderstood after reviewing this patent document.

At step S3-11, a WHOIS type or similar query is automatically spawnedagainst InterNIC files and/or other databases (e.g., databasesmaintained by InterNIC or other similar database authority) based on thecurrent candidate domain being looped upon. WHOIS type queries will beimmediately understood by those skilled in the art.

Next, at step S3-12, a determination will be made as to whether theWHOIS or other similar query results in an “available” determination. Ifthe candidate name currently being looped upon is available forregistration (i.e., is registerable), processing proceeds to step S3-13;if not processing loops back to step S3-8 as discussed above andultimately to step S3-6 for the next candidate domain name.

Accordingly at step S3-13, the candidate domain name will be written toan output or “available for registration/transfer” file or log.

Next, at step S3-14, a determination will be made as to whether allavailable candidate domain names have been processed. If thatdetermination is affirmative, processing proceeds at the top of FIG. 3D;if not, processing loops back to step S3-8 as discussed above andultimately back to step S3-6.

At step S3-15, an electronic mail (e-mail) message containing allavailable candidate domain names, if any are found in the output filewill be automatically generated and sent to the user via the Internet.Such messaging techniques will be immediately understood by thoseskilled in the art.

Processing ends at step S3-16.

Referring now to FIG. 4, depicted therein is a flowchart thatillustrates a process where a user can access an electronic mailmessaging service and receive e-mail messages from a domain nameregistration/transfer service. In particular, processing starts at stepS4-1 and immediately proceeds to step S4-2.

At step S4-2, a user accesses an e-mail messaging service such as oneprovided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), telecommunicationsprovider, web e-mail service provider, etc. and retrieves an e-mailmessage from a domain name generation, registration, and transferservice such as domain name generation and registration service andsystem 108 (FIG. 1).

Next, at step S4-3, the user accesses the web site referenced in ane-mail as containing a list of zero or more potentially available domainname candidates which have been generated in accordance with the user'searlier specified root search terms.

Next, at step S4-4, the user is presented with registration and purchaseoptions relative to a list of available domain name candidates providedin accordance the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Next, at step S4-5, a user may engage in online purchase transactions topurchase and/or register available domain name candidates. Suche-commerce transactions are well known and will be immediatelyunderstood by those skilled in the art.

Processing ends as step S4-5.

The process steps described with regard to FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D and 4,are now further illustrated with reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5Dto which reference is now made.

Referring now to FIG. 5A, depicted therein is a screen shot of a WWWsite view provided within a WWW browser client (e.g., MICROSOFT INTERNETEXPLORER V.5.0) running within a personal data processing system such aspersonal computer or user system 102 (FIG. 1). In particular, screenshot 500 shows an accessed web site (i.e., a domain name generation andregistration service and system) having the domain name (uniformresource locator—URL) www.whoisplus.com which is noted at address space501. The content received from the domain name service and system isprovided in browser content manifestation window 502. Contentmanifestation window 502 shows a web site view whereby a user may entersearch terms (root terms) 504 into an online form which the presentinvention uses to search for available domain names and to generatecandidate domain names. Additionally, the user may enter an e-mail atwhich he would like to receive search results e-mail correspondence fromthe domain name service and system. The user also may select, at pulldown box 503, the types of domain name formats that may be available.For example a user may want the term “tax” to appear with other termsseparated by hyphens (e.g., “tax-money.com”) or otherwise and, the usermay select a top level domain such as “.com” or other top level domains.Although screen shot 500 show only four (4) entry fields for searchterms (terms to be concatenated with other pre-established terms, etc.),the present invention is not so limited; to the contrary, any number ofroot terms could be permitted as a matter of design choice.

MICROSOFT and INTERNET EXPLORER are trademarks and/or registeredtrademarks of MICROSOFT CORPORATION. WHOISPLUS is a trademark and/orregistered trademark of RAREDOMAINS.COM, LLC.

Referring now to FIG. 5B, depicted therein is a supplemental web siteview 506. Web site view 506 is one of a web page that indicates that theuser's search terms 504 as illustrated in FIG. 5A have been processed toresult in a set of available (registerable, transferable, alienable,etc.) domain names. A web site address is maintained at address section507 and the content of the web site is maintained within web site view508.

Referring now to FIG. 5C, depicted therein is an e-mail message 510received from the domain name registration service via the Internet. Ofcourse, other electronic messaging systems could be used such as receipton personal communications devices (e.g., cellular telephones, pagers,personal digital assistants, etc.).

Referring now to FIG. 5D, depicted therein is a web site viewcorresponding to the e-mail message depicted in FIG. 5C. That is, website view 512 as addressed at address section 513 (as noted in thee-mail message noted in FIG. 5C) includes content 514 that listsavailable domain names which have been generated by a domain nameservice and system such as a domain name generation system 108 (FIG. 1).As noted above with regard to FIG. 4, the user may select a hypertextlink to register, purchase, lease, contact and owner, contact abrokerage, etc. in relation to one or more particular domain namesimmediately from web content 514.

The list of available domain names need not be viewed as a web page.Instead, the list of available domain names may come in the form amessage sent via any modern communications medium (e-mail, etc.).

In the preceding discussion, registration of available domain names hasbeen mentioned as an option related to an available domain namegenerated in accordance with the present invention. The presentinvention is not so limited. To the contrary, references to registrationshould also be interpreted to mean that an available domain namegenerated in accordance with the present invention may be registered(e.g., such as via a domain name registration authority), sold such asvia a brokerage or other similar domain name sales agent, or otherwisetransferred or alienated.

Thus, having fully described the present invention by way of examplewith reference to the attached drawing figures, it will be readilyappreciated that many changes and modifications may be made to theinvention and to any of the exemplary embodiments shown and/or describedherein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention whichis defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for generating a domain name and forfacilitating registration of the same, comprising: a data storagefacility storing at least one adjunct term; and a processor arrangementcoupled to said data storage facility and configured to be accessed by auser system via an electronic data network, to receive at least one rootterm from said user system, to concatenate said at least one root termwith said at least one adjunct term stored by said data storage facilityto generate at least one candidate second-level domain name, to query adata source to determine if said at least one candidate high leveldomain name is available for registration, to notify said user system ofsaid at least one candidate second-level domain name when said at leastone candidate second-level domain name is available for registration,and to permit said user system to engage in an electronic commercetransaction related to said at least one candidate second-level domainname when said at least one candidate second-level domain name isavailable for registration.
 2. The system according to claim 1, whereinsaid electronic commerce transaction is an online web-enabled electroniccommerce transaction.
 3. A method for generating a domain name and forfacilitating registration of the same, comprising the steps of: storinga plurality of adjunct terms for use in generating an available domainname; permitting a user to access a server facility via an electronicdata network; receiving a root term from said user via said electronicdata network; retrieving from storage an adjunct term; concatenatingsaid adjunct term with said root term and a top level domain identifierto generate a candidate domain name; querying a data source to determineif said candidate domain name is available for registration; notifyingsaid user of said candidate domain name when said candidate domain nameis available for registration; and permitting said user to engage in anonline electronic commerce transaction related to use of said candidatedomain name when said candidate domain name is available forregistration.
 4. A system for generating a domain name and forfacilitating registration of the same, comprising: a storage facilitystoring a plurality of adjunct terms for use in generating an availabledomain name; and a server facility coupled to said storage facility andconfigured to be accessed by a user system via an electronic datanetwork, to receive a root word from said user system via saidelectronic data network, to retrieve an adjunct term from said storagefacility, to concatenate said root word with said adjunct term and witha top level domain to generate a candidate domain name, to query a datasource to determine if said candidate domain name is available forregistration, to notify said user system of said candidate domain namewhen said candidate domain name is available for registration, and topermit a user at said user system to engage in an electronic commercetransaction related to said candidate domain name when said candidatedomain name is available for registration.